The British driver has outperformed Oscar Piastri at each of the previous five grands prix.
Lando Norris edged out fellow driver and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the fastest time in the closing stages of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who grabbed the points lead from his teammate by just one point after his victory in the Mexican Grand Prix a fortnight back, topped the Australian by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Earlier in the session, Oscar Piastri had been the leading McLaren throughout the hour before the sprint shootout due at the evening session.
Max Verstappen, the sole remaining contender in the points battle, sitting with a 36-point deficit Norris, ended up in 17th place as his team followed a alternative strategy.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to have an incident, though minor, when he lost control at corner four soon after starting.
Tsunoda slid over the curbs on exit before sliding over the escape zone, and was fortunate to avoid just a light touch of the fence.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the very end of the session, rotating twice through the high-speed corner before the final bend on to the start-finish straight.
The seven-time champion ended the session in 19th, just behind team-mate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren drivers were far ahead of the remaining drivers, with the German's Sauber P3, over half a second behind the Australian's time.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was in fourth, with Sauber's Bortoleto fifth from Mercedes' Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.
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Christina Miller
Christina Miller
Christina Miller
Christina Miller
Christina Miller
Christina Miller